With PICA’s statement on their focus for TBA:
“TBA is resolutely interdisciplinary, and champions those artists who are challenging forms and working across mediums, from dance to performance to visual art.”
The opening of the festival promised nothing but this.
Juliana Huxtable was invited to perform as part of the opening evening of events. As an artist Huxtables practice goes beyond common perceptions of an interdisciplinary art practice (that being one who works in performance, film, writing and drawing).
Juliana Huxtable writes poetry and music performing these live with musical accompaniment, makes videos often played during performances, creates digital prints incorporating Her writings, She is an accomplished D.J. , co-founder of SHOCK VALUE club night in Queens and Catwalk model for DKNY.
The following are excerpts from ‘performing notes’ a 30 mins automatic writing task I undertake after watching performances as a means of decompressing the material.
on the site; “clubs seems to be a comfortable platform or format for this as it has a welcoming aspect that other spaces do not. *this location on the other hand was not one of these spaces, and it had an agenda of being a festival opening party, the agle at which audience members view this work is maybe skewed. ”
*Looking back to cabaret histories, why are clubs not given equal weight in cultural heirarchies?
on Content. “speaking, singing, drums, piano, midi board, projection. Speech overlayed music, classical ->improvisational->jazz riffs->thunderous rhythms finding looping points with phrases and singular words of J.H.”
“texts describe ranging subjects, trivial/conversational to/with a sci-fi/scientific meta-physical aspect.Where do our bodies connect.. or dis-connect w/ each other or things.*Describing processes of decay, time and change to human-non-human materials.”
After seeing Juliana Huxtable perform and watching a DJ set online I was aware of differences of having an interdisciplinary and or multimedia practice. One of the skills in working between disciplines which J.H. performs so smoothly is the awareness of context and understanding the parameters that can be subverted effectively in each.The visuals projected behind become jarring in this party-come-art preview and I wonder whether this is enjoyed by the artist. The videos depicted in a slight ‘art attack’ pop manner images from art history re-performed with J.H. featured within, reassessing the ‘Whiteness’ of art history. Against the downplayed readings the videos hold such attention for what may look like fleeting loops of internet videos but repetition repeats the question over again, with a different relationship to the current moment in the reading.
Example of J.H. writing.
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/34477
